Diagnostic Utility of Preserved Dried Umbilical Cord Polymerase Chain Reaction in Intrauterine Herpes Simplex Virus Infection: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Introduction: Intrauterine herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is uncommon and challenging to diagnose, requiring detection of HSV in skin lesions within 48 h post-birth.

Case Presentation: A preterm female infant presented with the typical triad of blisters, microcephaly, and chorioretinitis, but the initial diagnostic approach was elusive due to negative results for TORCH pathogens from vesicles/serum. Referred at 7 months for developmental delay and epilepsy, her brain imaging showed calcification and cortical dysplasia.

Possible vertical transmission of Chikungunya virus infection detected in the cord blood samples from a birth cohort in Vietnam.

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus (genus Alphavirus, family Togaviridae) that is primarily transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes, and can be transmitted from mother to child. Little is known about CHIKV transmission in Vietnam, where dengue is endemic and Aedes mosquitoes are abundant. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of vertical CHIKV infection in a birth cohort, and seroprevalence of anti-CHIKV antibodies with or without confirmation by neutralization tests among women bearing children in Vietnam.

Rubella seroprevalence among mothers and incidence of congenital rubella three years after rubella vaccine introduction in Vietnam.

Following a rubella outbreak in 2011, Vietnam implemented a mass measles-rubella vaccination campaign for children aged 1-14 years in 2014-2015, further expanding the target age to 16-17 years in 2016; routine vaccination was introduced in 2014. However, there was concern that a substantial proportion of women of child-bearing age were still susceptible to rubella, with the fear of congenital rubella emergence. Thus, we conducted a prospective cohort study in Nha Trang, Vietnam, from 2017-2018 to investigate pregnant women's susceptibility to rubella infection, the incidence of congenital rubella infection, and factors associated with susceptibility.

Congenital Zika Virus Infection in a Birth Cohort in Vietnam, 2017-2018.

To detect congenital ZIKV infection (CZI) in a birth cohort and among high-risk neonates in Vietnam, we collected umbilical cord blood plasma samples of newly delivered babies and peripheral plasma samples of high-risk neonates in Nha Trang, central Vietnam, between July 2017 and September 2018. Samples were subjected to serological and molecular tests. Of the 2013 newly delivered babies, 21 (1%) were positive for Zika virus (ZIKV) IgM and 1,599 (79%) for IgG.

Central nervous system post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: The Nagasaki transplant group experience.

A 17-year-old male received allogeneic transplantation for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and presented with generalized seizures due to a solitary brain lesion with massive necrosis on day +621. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA copies were below the cut-off value in plasma. Stereotactic biopsy of the cerebral lesion confirmed the diagnosis of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) with large atypical cells positive for CD20 and EBER.

Therapeutic drug monitoring of ganciclovir for postnatal cytomegalovirus infection in an extremely low birth weight infant: a case report.

Background: Ganciclovir is a therapeutic choice for extremely premature infants with severe postnatal cytomegalovirus disease, but little is known about its optimal dose size and dosing interval for them.

Case Presentation: We treated an extremely premature female infant with postnatal cytomegalovirus infection with intravenous administration of ganciclovir since 49 days of life (postmenstrual age of 31 weeks). After ganciclovir treatment was initiated at a dose of 5 mg/kg every 12 h, cytomegalovirus loads in the peripheral blood were markedly decreased.

Retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in children with autism spectrum disorder but no other major neurologic deficit.

Aim: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can cause a variety of neurological deficits of delayed onset in infants who are asymptomatic at birth. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of congenital CMV infection among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nagasaki, Japan.

Methods: Twenty-nine children with ASD who were born in Nagasaki and had no other major neurological deficits were recruited.

[Adverse drug reactions of antiviral agents].

Principally speaking, "drug" and "poison" are of the same class; therefore, overdose of any drug naturally leads to intoxication. Intoxication can also occur in regular doses, depending on the condition of a patient (e.g.

Retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection at a school for the deaf by using preserved dried umbilical cord.

A retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection was made for 3 of 26 students (12%) with either bilateral profound or severe sensorineural hearing loss at a School for the Deaf in Japan by detecting viral DNA with real-time polymerase chain reaction from dried umbilical cords that had been preserved at home.

TT virus prevalence, viral loads and genotypic variability in saliva from healthy Japanese children.

Aim: TT virus (TTV) is genetically variable and widespread without apparent pathogenicity; however, its epidemiological features in children were not fully understood, partly because blood sampling is often unacceptable for healthy children. We therefore used saliva specimens to investigate epidemiology of TTV infection in early childhood.

Methods: Saliva samples were collected from 83 1-month-old, 110 4-month-old and 49 42-month-old children.

No association of mouse mammary tumor virus-related retrovirus with Japanese cases of breast cancer.

Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is the causative agent of breast tumors in mice. Recently, DNA sequences homologous or closely related to MMTV env gene have been specifically detected in breast cancer tissue from significant numbers of American, Australian, and Tunisian women, suggesting a viral etiology for at least a part of human breast cancer. However, the viral sequences have not been detected from any of breast cancer samples in several subsequent studies.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I-associated myelopathy following living-donor liver transplantation.

This report describes a patient who developed human T-cell leukemia virus type I-associated myelopathy (HAM) following a living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Both the recipient and the living donor (his sister) were human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) carriers. Since the LDLT, he had been treated with immunosuppressive drugs such as tacrolimus and steroids as well as interferon-alpha to prevent rejection and a recurrence of the HCV infection, respectively.

Severe postnatal cytomegalovirus infection in a very premature infant.

Several studies have reported that postnatally acquired cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can cause sepsis-like syndrome in premature infants. We here report a 622-gram birth weight male infant of 23 weeks' gestation who had sepsis-like syndrome and pneumonia. Substantial CMV loads were detected in peripheral blood cells, plasma, and urine when the patient was in crisis, but was decreased in parallel to clinical improvement without using ganciclovir.

Induction of lactoferrin gene expression in myeloid or mammary gland cells by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) tax: implications for milk-borne transmission of HTLV-1.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), the causative agent of adult T-cell leukemia, is transmitted vertically via breastfeeding. We have previously demonstrated that lactoferrin, a major milk protein, enhances HTLV-1 replication, at least in part by upregulating the HTLV-1 long terminal repeat promoter. We now report that HTLV-1 infection can induce lactoferrin gene expression.

Retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection using umbilical cord.

Approximately 90% of infants congenitally infected with cytomegalovirus are asymptomatic at birth, but a number of them later develop central nervous system disorders. However, diagnosis of congenital infection with virologic or serologic evidence had been almost impossible beyond the neonatal period. Recently, dried blood spots on Guthrie cards have been demonstrated to be useful for retrospective diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection; however, they are usually stored for only 1 year.

Norepinephrine inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type-1 infection through the NF-kappaB inactivation.

Exercise or acute stress can exert significant effects on immune system as well as cardiovascular and respiratory systems through catecholamines. In this study, we investigated effects of norepinephrine (NE), a catecholamine neurotransmitter on human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection. NE inhibited in vitro HIV-1 infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors and ex vivo HIV-1 replication in patients' PBMC.